Awaited
by Wolfsong's Rebel
Summary: There wasn't a catergory for this,so...any why. This is what I'd like to see happen at the end of Karen Hancock's book "Arena".


Awaitedby: Wolfsong

Okay, for any one to fully understand this story they would've had to read the book by Karen Hancock called "Arena." These are her characters and I earn nothing by writhing this except for the ending I want.

A short summary: Callie volunteers to take part in an experimant to change her life, along the way she meets Pierce, they travel together and eventually fall in love, because of the antagonist in this story they are separated, back in the "real world" they meet, she remembers everything, and he doesn't. Thanks to Elhanu, a very important character in this book Callie is given her hope back and told to wait. This is what I feel happens-or could happen-during her wait.

I hope you enjoy this story. I highly suggest the book, which can be found at a Christian book store, library or the Internet. Plz. r/r. Thanks!

SA the slow song ended, Pierce led Callie back to their table. She decided to take it slow, as Elhanu said, but she was dying to reach out, hold him, and tell Pierce everything that had happened, everything they had went through together. But if she said anything now, before he came to it himself, she might scare him away. And that was something she did not want. She'd lost him once, she wasn't going to lose him again.

Callie looked across to Pierce's face, searched for the link to strengthen her and prayed for patience.

_Please, don't let this take long. Let him remember soon._ She set about asking questions about his ranch. What it had looked like, what he'd loved the most. Of course he was curious about her line of questioning, and she dismissed it saying it was the artist in her asking.

"Lisa said you were a pianist," she said eyeing him, still struggling with her emotions; past and present. "Are you any good?"

Pierce laughed, his eyes sparkling. "Some might say. Did I hear it right," he said changing the subject, "but did Lisa or Tom say that you play?"

"I've been taking lessons, yes," Callie answered, her face reddening a little.

"Care to show me sometime?" he asked.

"If you agree to play for me." _ Yes,_ she thought. _This ensures that I'll see him again. If he agrees._

"Deal. Know of a place with a nice piano?"

"As a matter of fact I happen to have one at my house," she replied proudly.

"Really?" His brow arched. "Maybe we could get together sometime, have lunch?" He suggested. Callie's heart skipped a beat. How it hurt so much to see him, to hear him and have him not recognize her. She searched again for the link, found it, and the warmth filled her.

They talked until the party ended. Being among the last to leave, they wished Lisa a happy birthday and said goodbye. Meg met up with them outside near Callie's car, her face revealing she was shocked to see them still together.

"Ready to go, Cal?" she asked looking over the pair. In another "world," Callie thought, Meg wouldn't have been surprised to see them together. Callie turned and looked at her friend then back to the man before her, the man she loved. "Yeah," she sighed.

"I'll call you sometime. Soon," Pierce said, his gaze locked with hers. He bent, placing a soft kiss on top of her hand. Meg slid into the car as this was happening. "Are you sure we haven't met before?" he asked again. Callie didn't trust her voice to answer and merely smiled.

Reluctantly, she released his hand and walked to the driver's side. After dropping Meg off, Callie returned home. Inside her house she slipped from her flats and walked around, looking at all that was her life now. There was only one thing missing now, and he had just walked into het life tonight. As she walked by, Callie lightly ran her fingers over the ivory keys then walked into her room, and readied for the night.

As she laid down on the bed her eyes landed on the painting of a man standing on a cliff. On the painting of him. It was a comfort knowing that one day-hopefully not too far away-Pierce would remember that cliff. That he would remember everything the was she did. And when he remembered, they could then, finally, start their life together.

Callie shut her eyes, filled with a sense of peace she hadn't for a long time and knew everything would be alright. Elhanu had said it would be. _Thank you,_ she thought, sending it through the link, knowing He had helped to bring them back together. She slept tonight, and it was peaceful.

Over the next several weeks Callie spent more and more time with Pierce. Lunches, visits to museums and galleries, long walks together and time together at her house playing the piano. He was better than she could have imagined, and he offered to help her practice.

At times she waned so badly to ask him if he remembered anything of those two weeks, but she knew she had to be patient. Elhanu had said he would remember eventually, and when he did it would be everything. She held onto that hope and the link, knowing the time would come.

One day, as they were strolling through a gallery-one that held several of her fantasy works, she loved to look at them and bring back the memories- she noticed he was quieter than normal. They stopped in front of a painting, the cliff only this one didn't have a man standing alone, and his whole existence seemed distant. He looked from the painting to their hands intertwined then back to the painting and sighed.

"Can we go somewhere and talk?" Surprised by his question, she nodded and they walked out together.

Once they had gotten a little ways Pierce slowed and sat down on a bench. He pulled Callie down beside him, neither saying anything. They sat for a while in silence. Callie was scared anything she might say would scare him, and cause him to not say what was obviously on his mind. So she sat, staring at his wonderful profile and waited.

Finally, after a while had passed, he sighed and spoke. "Callie, I remember everything."

She turned and looked at him, seeing for the first time the recognition there. "The experiment, the roads, the five long years I spent wondering around trying to find the Exit. The Trogs, the Watchers and the Tohvani, our friends. All of the hardships we went through. The Aggillion. Elhanu." He turned and looked at her.

"When did it come back?" she nearly whispered, the tears ready to fall.

"A few days ago," he answered. "I wondered if you remembered. You never said anything. Then I started looking at some of your works." He smiled at her again. "I remember it all, Callie. Even us." The tears burst at that. "So you do remember." he said standing and pulling her to him. She nodded.

"Elhanu said I had to wait. That because you had so much understanding you could never forget. He said I had to let you find it yourself."

"You've seen him? Here?" Pierce's eyes lit up, warming Callie's heart.

"At Lisa's birthday party. When we met. He was a waiter." Pierce remembered back and it registered. "I never gave up believing in him." She reached into her purse and pulled out a small velvet bag, handing it to him. "We have unfinished business," she said sweetly to him. He upended the bag into his hand, fingering the ring holding the blood crystal.

A smile played at his lips. "You still have it."

"I only took it off to keep everyone fro asking questions I couldn't answer."

Pierce looked down at her, slowly lifting her hand and slipping the ring in place. "Will you still marry me?" he asked.

"If you'll still have me?" she replied, staring up into his beautiful face. He smiled, answering her question with a kiss.

My ending.


End file.
